The invention relates to an architectural covering, in particular an architectural covering having at least one rail that may be manually adjusted so as to extend or retract a covering member of the architectural covering.
Architectural coverings are well-known and include roller blinds, venetian blinds, plissé blinds, roman shades, etc. Such coverings can be extended across the whole or part of an architectural opening such as a window or door, or retracted to uncover the whole or part of said opening. One type of covering, known as a top-down/bottom-up covering, includes a first rail and a second rail with shade material extending between the rails. Both rails may be independently moved up and down so that the shade material can be extended or retracted to any desired degree between the two rails and also positioned at any desired height across the architectural opening. When the rails are moved towards each other, the shade material is gathered between the two rails and when the rails are separated, the shade material extends between the rails.
Such coverings may be retracted and extended via various operating systems, which may be manually and/or motor driven. Some coverings may be operated by manually pushing the or each rail up or down a guiding system. To facilitate such operation, the rails may be provided with a handle.
The handle is generally screwed onto the rail. Although this provides a simple and effective handle, it has numerous disadvantages. Firstly, a hole needs to be drilled at the position where the handle is desired, which makes the installation process more difficult. Secondly, if the hole tears or is otherwise damaged, it will be necessary to drill another hole and relocate the handle, which requires further installation work. Furthermore, the damaged hole will be visible on the rail, reducing the aesthetic appeal of the covering. Thirdly, if a customer wants to change the position of the handle, he must drill another hole and the original hole will be left visible. Again, this requires further installation work and results in an unsightly hole being visible on the rail.